On Saturday, April 23, at approximately 10:50 a.m. members from the Templeton Fire and Emergency Services were preparing to train on wildland firefighting techniques. Fire crews were utilizing vacant land adjacent to Vineyard Elementary School and had set out equipment for the training. The equipment included two hose packs which were filled with 400 feet of light weight wildland hose, nozzles and other firefighting equipment. Prior to commencing the training, the firefighters received a 911 call for a multiple vehicle accident near Vineyard Drive and Highway 101.

The slip-in units can be placed on a pickup or flatbed truck and consist of a water tank, pump and hose reel and hold 75-300 gallons of water.

Idaho's RFPAs were formed in 2013 by ranchers, who are trained by the BLM and assist federal and state agencies in fighting wildfires.

RFPA members use their own equipment, but the addition of these new engines and slip-in units will significantly boost their capacity, said Castleford rancher Michael Guerry, chairman of the Three Creek RFPA.

IDL purchased some of the equipment through with state general fund dollars and grant funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and acquired some through the Federal Excess Personal Property program.

Rural Idahoans are coming together - developing a plan - to help stop small fires from becoming big ones. It's a plan they believe will save precious Idaho rangeland.

The Owyhee RFPA was given some new equipment to fight fires on both public and private grazing land. The association chairmen tell me they have been waiting on this equipment for years and they're relieved to finally have a new fleet to fight wildfires.

"The reason that we need all the equipment is so we can get to the fires faster," Owyhee RFPA Chairman Doug Rutan told KTVB. "If you can get to them while they're small you can put them out with water."

Modeled after Oregon's fire protection associations, they were established in Idaho in 2012: the first in Mountain Home, followed by the group in the Owyhee Rangelands.

The next step may be rebuilding the place the new truck will park. Fire Station 1 is falling apart, literally.

"There's holes in the roof, there's lots of maintenance issues. I think rebuilding may be the way to go," says Collins.

Before that happens, City Councilman Cautero would like to see what it will take to get the Department up to shape.

"I recommended that the Council receive from the Fire Department and the city manager a comprehensive fire department reinvestment plan. That would include vehicles as well as facilities going forward," says Cautero.